1. Technical Field
The embodiments described herein are related to injection molding and in particular to methods of reducing the number of separate components and complexity of control panel assemblies.
2. Related Art
When injection molding a control panel, an in-molded decorative plastic film is often included. The molded control panel with the decorative plastic film is then assembled to a separate housing, molded console or “techbox” that includes a PCB with switches, lighting, indicators, knobs, slides, displays etc. The control panel also includes the interconnect wires or circuits, which typically interface with one or more control boards and to other circuits or circuitry. These boards or circuits are often housed within the control panel housing, or in a separate housing.
As a result, there are many potential failure points in a conventional control panel. For example, the switches, indicators, etc., can fail, the interconnects with the circuit boards can fail, the circuit boards themselves can fail, and so on. Such conventional assemblies can also be expensive to manufacture due to all the different components and interconnects and associated assembly, especially if the control panel is part of a small product, uniquely shaped product, a product with complex controls and indicators, or some combination thereof, etc.